Everything you need to know about business travel rules

By Nathalie Pouillard & Coralie Petit

Published: October 17, 2024

Business travel is a tool for growth, helping to develop and humanize companies.

So, while we live in an increasingly dematerialized world, where virtual communication is child's play, human contact and on-site intervention are sometimes essential. ☝️

One day, we may be able to teleport ourselves with a good wifi connection... In the meantime, we'd like to offer you a guide to business travel, with the regulations you need to know about and the methods you can use to optimize... digital management.

Bon voyage! 🚗

See all software Expense Management

Let's get back to the basics of business travel

What is a so-called business trip?

Also known as business travel, a business trip implies that the professional activity is carried out, individually or in a group, away from the usual place of work or home.

The duration of a business trip varies. It can be carried out over the course of a working day, but if it extends over more than 24 hours, it is often referred to as a business trip.

💡 Please note: business travel abroad is limited to:

less than 90 consecutive days ;
less than 180 days per year.

If this is not the case, it is no longer considered an assignment abroad, but an expatriation or secondment.

Which means of transport should I choose for my business trip?

👉 The employer determines the means of transport used for business travel. However, it must be compatible with the employee's state of health.

For example, if the employee is not physically able to take the plane, a medical certificate is required.

💡 Furthermore, the company has no right to impose the use of the employee's personal vehicle. In all cases, the company is the guarantor of the employee's safety and must ensure this, whatever the mode of transport chosen.

Can a business trip be refused?

In general cases

Some activities require employees to travel on a more or less regular basis. The employee may not refuse a business trip on the pretext that nothing is stipulated in the employment contract.

On the other hand, if there is a travel clause specifying the geographical area concerned, and the employer's request is outside this area, the employee is within his or her rights to refuse.

Similarly, if the clause does not specify a geographical area, it is not legal.

In the case of a sedentary activity

For sedentary professional activities, a request for exceptional travel does not constitute a modification of the employment contract. It may be refused for personal reasons (dependent dependent), but the refusal must be justified.

Otherwise, the refusal is considered an act of insubordination liable to disciplinary action, if the company is unable to find alternative solutions and suffers prejudice as a result.

☝️ Long travel times are not grounds for refusal, if the assignments are part of the employee's normal duties.

Is the journey between home and work considered to be business travel?

Is commuting time working time? According to article L3121-1 of the French Labor Code, "Effective working time is the time during which the employee is at the employer's disposal and complies with the employer's instructions, without being free to pursue personal interests".

👉 Thus, travel time from home to the usual place of work, regardless of distance, is not effective working time.

Similarly, a business trip from home to an unusual workplace does not entitle the employee to any compensation if it does not exceed the normal travel time between home and work.

🎬 Find out everything there is to know in this video!

The question of travel arrangements in the employment contract

Many employees are familiar with this cautious phrase: "the employee may be required to travel on business in the course of his or her duties".

But travel arrangements do not have to be stipulated in the employment contract. The law considers that, in the absence of a specific clause, the employee's agreement to travel is tacit in the event of business needs.

However, for both parties, if regular travel is to be expected, it is preferable to de conditions (duration, frequency), via a professional mobility clause. 🧳

In addition, instructions concerning business travel should be compiled on a medium accessible to employees, for the sake of transparency and good internal communication, and recall:

preferred modes of transport ;
the person in charge of managing travel ;
reimbursement bases and deadlines;
supporting documents to be produced;
administrative procedures to be followed, etc.

How do you count hours worked on the road? Rules imposed on companies

Reimbursement of expenses

As we saw earlier, journeys between home and the workplace do not count as business travel.

☝️ However, it should be noted that :

for itinerant employees, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) considers that travel time between their home and the first customer, and between the last customer and their home, must be counted as working time, for the sole purpose of calculating the minimum rest period between two working days;
travel time from one workplace to another, e.g. between two customers, is treated as working time;
during a business trip, time spent in transport (planes, trains, car-sharing, etc.), including stopovers and waiting to board, is treated as actual working time. In practice, salary is simply maintained and cannot be reduced;
for travel outside normal working hours, where the employee has to spend the night in a hotel, this working time is sometimes referred to as non-productive working time. Not only are expenses covered, but the employee may also be compensated, for example, with a lump sum per day or compensatory rest. To find out, it is important to consult company and collective agreements;
for on-call personnel, particularly in the building and civil engineering sector, travel time from home during exceptional interventions must be counted and remunerated as actual working time;
as regards daily commuting time between the company and the worksite, this is effective working time if the employee is required to come to the company before going to the worksite.

Compensation for business travel

In general...

Employers are obliged to reimburse business travel expenses, within the limits of strictly necessary expenses, explained to the employee in advance, such as :

transportation costs ;
accommodation ;
meal expenses.

If the employee is responsible for booking his or her own travel, the employer will inform the employee of any limits. For example, only 2nd class rail travel (the employee is free to opt for 1ʳᵉ class and pay the difference), a predefined meal basket, etc.

But under no circumstances can there be any difference in treatment between employees.

The employee also has duties: he must be able to justify his expenses and in this sense, he must keep all the documents that will enable him to be reimbursed.

☝️ According to the collective bargaining agreement, business travel outside normal working days and hours, on Sundays or public holidays, entitles employees to additional compensation.

And what about the long-distance allowance?

According to URSSAF, long-distance travel is "characterized by the impossibility for an employee to return to his or her place of residence every day, due to working conditions".

A long-distance travel allowance may therefore be paid to compensate for additional meal and accommodation expenses (amounts 2022):

19.40 € per meal ;
69.50 € per day for accommodation and breakfast in Paris and surrounding area;
51.60 € per day for accommodation and breakfast outside Paris.

☝️ Flat-rate allowances for professional expenses are exempt from social security contributions up to the limit of the above-mentioned reimbursements.

Calculating mileage allowances

There are several methods of reimbursement and payment:

flat-rate ;
actual (according to the URSSAF kilometric scale).

💡 To simplify the management of business travel and avoid the accumulation of expense claims, it is possible to use payment cards. For example, fuel cards are available for gasoline expenses.

Managing business travel

Who organizes business travel management?

Also known as business travel management, business travel management falls to the travel manager, who manages all of a company's travel and trips, in 23% of companies in 2018.

💡 For the others, it's the Finance department in 28% of cases, the Purchasing department (24%), HR (15%) or other (10%).

Travel management involves organizing, booking and paying for travel, including :

definition of a corporate travel policy (PVE) ;
administrative and accounting management (collection, processing, checking of expense reports and receipts, reimbursement);
fleet management, where applicable;
keeping travel logs ;
comparison of service offers (transport, baggage allowance, accommodation);
managing travel-related risks ;
apply for formalities such as visas, insurance, etc.

6 software solutions for easy expense management

The strengths and advantages of expense claim software

The complexity of current regulations, the specificities of each business sector, and the legal grey areas all make it difficult to find one's way around. Between tolerance, jurisprudence and exceptions, we recommend that you consult an expert in employment law, both for the drafting of contracts and to answer specific questions about business travel.

We also recommend that you equip yourself with an expense management tool , the idea being not only to save time, but also to be as legally compliant as possible.

☁️ In the cloud, in SaaS mode, they have the advantage of being up to date with the latest regulations, and of being able to integrate the specifics of collective bargaining agreements and the company's travel policy, if there is one. Above all, they can be accessed from anywhere, making them very practical in mobile situations.

Which software to choose?

Here are 6 software packages to try out:

⚒️ Expensya ▷ Digitalize and automate the entire business expense process. Avoid error-prone manual data entry by replacing paper with digital archiving with probative value, and integrate your data with your accounting, payroll or ERP software.
⚒️ Kizeo Forms ▷ Benefits? Information gathering is not only dematerialized, but also fully customizable from the moment the form is created, with the selection of mandatory fields to be filled in.
⚒️ Rydoo ▷ Also featuring Optical Character Recognition technology, the publisher offers classic expense management with Rydoo Expense, as well as business travel management with Rydoo Travel.
⚒️ Silae Expense ▷ Its strengths? Learning artificial intelligence that optimizes the tool, a digital safe with evidential value in the event of an audit, and an ecosystem of connectors to ERP-type solutions.
⚒️ Skipr ▷ Manage all your business mobility with simplicity and flexibility, from planning to payment. This innovative, eco-friendly solution reduces your administrative burden and becomes your employees' ally.
⚒️ Soldo ▷ A genuine turnkey solution for managing travel expenses. With its SaaS platform, mobile application and range of physical or virtual cards or fuel, it's ideal for SMEs and SMBs who want to gain efficiency in processing their expenses and track all their transactions in real time.

3 software solutions to prepare your business trips and anticipate your expenses

⚒️ Bolt Business ▷ Plan your teams' business trips and keep them under control with personalized expense limits. Track journeys in real time, and benefit from simplified monthly invoicing. No need to manage expense reports after the trip! Everything is simplified, within your budget and integrated into your accounting.
⚒️ Mooncard ▷ Mooncard goes one step further, offering a software interface for financial management, accounting and analysis, as well as (and above all!) a configurable payment card and fuel card. No more need to manage expense accounts. Financial teams save time and control their cash flow.
⚒️ Navan ▷ a must-try solution for any company looking to optimize its business travel management, thanks to: simplified booking, automated expense management and an overview of all business travel.